# What are hamsters? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 11, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466 "2003-03-11T03:06:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dlknox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@dlknox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlknox)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/1 "2003-03-11T03:06:59Z")
Many people use this word in a context that I don’t know what it means. And, how did this usage get started. ---
**Author:** ![Meros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Meros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meros)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/2 "2003-03-11T03:09:26Z")
I’m a newbie too but IIRC the SDMB servers are hamster driven. Can an “olbie” help us out? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/3 "2003-03-11T03:14:48Z")
Yes, they’re the same cute, furry mammals we all know and love. The story, apocryphal as it is, is that the SDMB servers are powered by hamsters running on their little excercise wheels. Of course, that’s not really the case. …or is it? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/4 "2003-03-11T03:17:37Z")
If you’re referring to people mentioning “the hamsters are slow” or “someone forgot to feed the hamsters” when the message board is having trouble, then, yes, the servers are powered by an army of hamsters running in their little hamster wheels connected to power generators. When they get tired and stop doing their jobe, you get server errors. Of course it’s just a joke. No one would use hamsters to power anything when squirrels are more plentiful and have greater stamina. ---
**Author:** ![oldman\_withers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@oldman\_withers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldman_withers)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/5 "2003-03-11T03:23:50Z")
I disagree Max. Though the domestic squirrel is more plentiful, the komodo dragon of the far east is far superior to those little fur-cat-things. One alone could power the entire city of Amsterdam, and that’s a lot of neon lights. ---
**Author:** ![Meros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Meros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meros)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/6 "2003-03-11T03:27:59Z")
You know, while thinking about this post I realize that it’s a shame that **Scylla** had to sell his farm. Could you imagine the performance boost is the servers were powered by the legendary Evil Gophers? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/7 "2003-03-11T03:30:22Z")
[Hamster](http://www.animalnetwork.com/critters/profiles/art/hamster.jpg) [Hamster Wheel](http://www.petsmart.com/images/product/large/in500738.jpg) [Hamster in Hamster Wheel](http://www.qcc.ca/~charlesc/pets/zena/zena-wheel1.jpg) I assume this answers your questions? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dlknox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@dlknox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlknox)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/8 "2003-03-11T03:35:42Z")
Thank you very much. That’s exactly what I wanted to know. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/9 "2003-03-11T03:45:05Z")
I’m still lobbying for the ferrets. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/10 "2003-03-11T04:15:20Z")
**[sup]click for hamster info[/sup]** [ul][li] [**\**](http://www.hampsterdance2.com/stagedance.html)[/li] [li] [**\**](http://www.zabaware.com/webhal/hampy.html)[/li] [li] [**\**](http://www.tela.bc.ca/hamster/)[/li] [li] [**\** \*](http://www.ferretcentral.org/)[/li] \*\*\* [sup]Just for Kat\*\*[/sup][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/11 "2003-03-11T04:27:15Z")
[Or not.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=133009) ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/12 "2003-03-11T04:48:31Z")
Hamsters are small rodents usually kept as pets by obnoxious kids waiting to graduate to guinea pigs, the two most common varieties being Mesocritus Auratus and Phodopus Cambelli. They are usually observed in their natural habitats, the Habitrail which is the arrangement of yellow transparent shoeboxes and toilet paper tubes and the Habitrack, the yellow, transparent exercise ball A.K.A. cat torture device. They are also referred to as the incredibly efficient power generating organsims that keep the SDMB operating. With the simple consumption of some small green pellets resembling alien droppings, they provide the awesome loading speed of this particular message board, assisting you in your search for knowledge. If it weren’t for hamsters, you would be terminally stupid. Hamsters are not to confused with gerbils however. For a good description on the differences between the two without having to inquire to Richard Gere, please go [here.](http://www.kenkifer.com/writing/hamsters.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Janx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Janx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Janx)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/13 "2003-03-11T05:39:57Z")
\*\* Turbo Dog \*\* wrote… > [@](#): > > …the yellow, transparent exercise ball A.K.A. cat torture device. **BWAHAAHAhhahahahaha!** The bad part is that I remember doin…er… seeing this as a kid! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/14 "2003-03-11T15:08:18Z")
This is how they should have done the matrix: can’t you just imagine Neo running in one of those big wheels? ---
**Author:** ![dlknox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@dlknox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlknox)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/15 "2003-03-11T16:07:25Z")
My other question: How did this hamster legend/joke get started? Who came up with it? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/16 "2003-03-11T16:13:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kat \* > I’m still lobbying for the ferrets. Trust me, they don’t have the attention span to run in a wheel. Hamsters get in and go for long periods of time, but a ferret would get distracted by the least little thing (“ooh, shiny!”) and where would we be then? ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/17 "2003-03-11T17:11:06Z")
I’d just like to chime in here and tell **Janx** that that’s one of the most impressive feats of vB coding I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/18 "2003-03-11T18:30:19Z")
A mink is like a nuke compared to a squirrel. A few minks generate an awesome amount of power. My uncle used to raise them. The only trouble is they tend to bite your fingers off. Very aggressive. I’ve known two database sysadmins running VAX servers to die from mink lunges to the throat. Hamsters are slower but at least they’re UL/FDA approved. ---
**Author:** ![Janx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Janx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Janx)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/19 "2003-03-11T18:45:10Z")
\*\* av8rmike \*\* wrote: > [@](#): > > I’d just like to chime in here and tell Janx that that’s one of the most impressive feats of vB coding I’ve ever seen. Why, thank-ya \*\* Mike\*\*… Yes it is true folks, I rock, and I have no life, which gives me oodels of time to sit around and code color gradients so you can all _read_ what laughter sounds like. Now for the _sorry truth._ Credit for that goes to **Mangetout** , he built an application for use on bulletin boards in response to a problem I was having concerning telephone time and the preview post function, basically it is an off line Vboard editor, and it is great! Its also FREE! [Read this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=156572), to see how it came about, and the link to get a copy yourself is there, but remember, using the gradient tool uses a lot of bandwidth so use it sparingly, lest the mods disallow colored text! BTW, there is a link to another editor on the first page or so but it is no where as good, I think **Mangetout’s** , link is on page 1 or 2. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466/20 "2003-03-11T18:54:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dlknox \* > \*\*My other question: > > How did this hamster legend/joke get started? Who came up with it? \*\* I think that would be this thread on 4/28/2000 about the impending switch from UBB board software to vB software: [Time to move beyond UBB?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=32104&highlight=hamsters#post32104) > [@](#): > > \*\*Eve: I understand this system uses TWO hamsters? > > TubaDiva: Two BIG hamsters. And I hear they really like methedrine.\*\* The chronology of the posts in that thread is a little screwed up because of the changeover, or some other hamster-related mishap. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-hamsters/160466.md?page=2)